The Two-Way

10:51 am

Fri March 1, 2013

Kim Dotcom Loses Court Battle In Megaupload Extradition Case

Kim Dotcom, founder of the file-sharing website Megaupload, says he will take his fight against extradition to the United States to New Zealand's highest court, after an appeals court ruled in the U.S. government's favor Friday.

At issue is the amount of evidence Dotcom's defense team is entitled to see at the extradition hearing. An appeals court overruled a lower court's decision that the U.S. government had to provide more than a summary of its case against the Internet entrepreneur.

"Disclosure was extensive and could involve billions of emails, the court was told," reports The New Zealand Herald. "Dotcom's legal team said that without knowledge of the FBI's evidence, they could not adequately prepare for the extradition case."

Reacting to the court's ruling on Twitter, Dotcom wrote that he was disappointed in the ruling, but he also said, "The fight goes on. Next is the Supreme Court of New Zealand."

Dotcom, a German native who was residing in New Zealand when the FBI launched its case against him in January 2012, faces charges of digital piracy and money laundering. The U.S. government says Megaupload cost copyright holders "more than half a billion dollars in harm."

As the Two Way reported last summer, Dotcom has previously offered to extradite himself, if the Justice Department allows him bail and unfreezes his bank accounts.